BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained a Palestinian woman on Friday in the old city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency.

Wafa reported that a Palestinian woman was detained by Israeli forces for alleged possession of a knife.

According to Wafa, the 32-year-old woman was detained after she was searched at the entrance of the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron’s old city.

Israeli forces have detained scores of Palestinians, many of the minors, for allegedly being in possession of knives following a spate of alleged and actual small-scale knife attacks by Palestinians that surged in the fall of 2015.

Hebron in particular grew as the epicenter of upheaval, with a number of Palestinians having been shot while being detained at military checkpoints in the area.

Eyewitnesses have also said in a number of cases that Israeli security forces planted knives on slain or imprisoned Palestinians to claim that they were acting in self-defense during a stabbing attack.